APPLETON - As city officials face a possible worker shortage at the polls for the November election, seasoned election workers say the Election Day experience is all about civic duty and hometown pride.

A lifelong interest in politics and a sense of civic duty initially compelled some recent retirees to become election workers. But it's their interactions with people in the community that keep the workers coming back election after election.

John Gavelek, 70, has worked at the polling place for District 3 — Cross Walk Church on East John Street — since the "hectic" 2012 presidential election. He had retired in 2011.

While his memories of frantically registering lines of voters that day remain, he also fondly recalls a more lighthearted scene of another election — someone's first time voting. After registering, checking in and filling in the ballot, the new voter ended up hitting a milestone number for the day — being either the 2,000th or 2,500th person to cast a ballot that day, Gavelek recalled — and the room broke out in applause.

"Everyone clapped and went 'yay!'" Gavelek said. "It’s always nice when you get new voters in, young voters, who come in to register to vote."

City officials put out a plea earlier this month for more election workers in November.

"Without the help of residents willing to serve on Election Day, what is expected to be a large turnout (in November) will turn into voters faced with long, slow-moving lines and that is a frustrating prospect for everyone," City Clerk Kami Lynch said last week.

Responsibilities for poll workers include greeting voters, checking photo IDs in compliance with the state's voter identification law, handing out ballots and registering new voters.

Workers, who are paid $128 for Election Day work, are required to go through training prior to working an election.

For Carol Lenz, being an election worker allows her to be a mom — to hundreds of college students who may be voting for the first time.

"You get to be a mom and say, 'You don't know your Social Security number? You should always know your Social Security number,' or 'You know what dorm you live in but you don't know the address? Come on!' So that's fun," Lenz said.

Lenz, 66, has been retired from teaching for five years. She has worked on Election Day at Lawrence University's Alexander Gym, the polling place for District 4, for three years. Alexander Gym primarily sees Lawrence University students, she said, but there are other Appleton residents who vote there as well.

While election workers typically have a 16-hour day, Lenz said the time goes fast because of the interactions she gets to have, and the people she gets to meet who are exercising their democratic rights.

In April's presidential primary, she recalls a homeless man she had to send away from the polls because he had the wrong documentation. But eventually he was able to vote that day.

"He came back three times to vote before he finally had the right thing. But he came back. Isn’t that cool? " she said.

In the April presidential primary, both Gavelek and Lenz said same-day voter registration was a time-consuming task for all involved.

This was especially true at the Alexander Gym, Lenz said, because college students are regularly moving year to year. Lenz said the registration lines were about 75 people deep most of the day, and in total they registered about 700 people at Alexander Gym that day.

Lynch said the April presidential primary saw more than 4,000 same-day voter registrations overall, and she anticipates seeing even more come November.

"I think the April election was a very good indicator that this is a busy election year and it is drawing a lot of voters," she said.

The city is looking to get three to five more election workers at each of Appleton's 15 polling places, Lynch said.

Gavelek said it's critical to get more election workers, which in turn helps voters do their civic duty and vote.